tag:Community Blogs:blogCommunity Blogsul/user/1/116466-coltrane2jpg-avatar.jpgJradroxhttps:://www.destructoid.com/blogs/Jradrox2012-04-12T23:47:28ZCommunity Blogs:237395MGS: Why can't I give you up? - JradroxJradrox2012-10-25T12:53:58Z2012-10-25T12:53:58ZThe Metal Gear Solid series, where do I begin? My love for the series began with the PS1 in 1999. I saw the game sitting on a shelf at Funcoland and thought, why not? I liked war games and desperately needed a break from Twisted Metal and Jet Moto. Little did I know that by purchasing this game, it would invoke all kinds of feelings in me ranging from pure hatred to the love I feel for it now. Now please keep in mind, in 1999, I didn't have internet access, if I got stuck somewhere, I either had to go buy a strategy guide from the bookstore, assuming they had one or figure it out myself. Needless to say I quit playing a lot of stuff because of this. One of the first things that completely screwed me over was the fact I originally got my copy of MGS used. Anyone who's purchased "used" games knows that there is the off chance you don't get the original box with said games, or manuals for that matter. The manual wasn't a big deal, I figured out most of the controls on my own, the fact I didn't get the case, well, that was a different story.
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<br/>See, for those of you who have played the original Metal Gear Solid game, the case has a codec for a character that moves the game along, not having that codec number meant I was stuck. Piracy while not quite as bad as it is today, was a huge deal and if you couldn't bother to buy the game with the case, well, screw you I guess. I ended up having to beg my mom for a ride to the mall so I could go find a copy of the game with said case so I could finally move on with my life.
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<br/>(this was the bane of my existence!!!)
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<br/>(On a side note, I eventually re-bought the game with a case after one of my friends borrowed it and sold it for weed money...we don't talk anymore...) So I finally was able to communicate with Meryl, playing the game and Psycho Mantis shows up. This wouldn't have been a big deal but again, I didn't have internet and didn't know that you could plug in controller 2. I stopped playing the game at that point. I moved on in life, graduated high school, started college and eventually got a PS2 from my parents. (It was there way of telling me to relax a little, I was working 2 jobs, going to school and sleeping maybe 2 hours a night if I was lucky.) Metal Gear Solid 2 was up next. This time I didn't screw around, I bought a new copy, had the internet in case I got stuck, was ready to rock. I finished 2 and eventually went back to 1, rather than starting from where I left off, I was forced to start over because my save data got deleted. I finally got around to beating Psycho Mantis about 2 years after I had originally started the game and worked my way to the end. Snake Eater was a Christmas present, I didn't leave my apartment or really sleep for 3 weeks, my life was consumed by the series. I ended up replaying through 1 and 2 during this time as well. Years later, I got a PS3 as a birthday present from my parents, my sister got me MGS 4. The cycle began again.I nearly broke down by the end of 4...
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<br/>I just can't quit you SNAAAAAAKE!!!!!
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<br/> I recently finished Peace Walker since it was available on PSN. (I have considered buying the MGS collection numerous times, which is usually met with, you already own them and they collect dust in your office along with your PS2.) and like before, I have this urge to replay all the games again, this time in storyline order.
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<br/>So I would like to ask you the readers, do you have a game series you just can't quit and if so, what is it that appeals to you?Community Blogs:237057Gaming Etiquette - JradroxJradrox2012-10-19T01:36:06Z2012-10-19T01:36:06ZWith all the free time Ive had the past few months (For various reasons, mainly being unemployed for a good chunk of it) Ive had quite a bit of time to finally get around to playing online as well as watching some of my friends stream on Twitch. While I'm sure the subject has been brought up before, and by no means do I consider myself an expert in the field, a recent incident in Gears of War 3 (yes, I'm way behind the times, I'm also horribly broke though!) brought this to mind and I figured I'd write a blog about it, because honestly what else do I have to do?
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<br/>Anyhow, this is my top 10 list of rules to abide by:
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<br/>1. Thou shall not troll unless the other person is being a total douche to you first.
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<br/>2. Trolling someone because they suck isnt cool, unless you are good friends; than harass them all you want.
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<br/>3. Thou will not backseat game unless said person playing asks for help/advice, or you are playing a MMO and your healer is pulling agro like its going out of style.
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<br/>4. If you need to be AFK and can do so, let people in your game know, especially in co-op games, Ill never forgive my friend who bailed on me during a heated battle with RAAM in Gears of War to talk to his girlfriend about lunch without telling me he was going to be away.
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<br/>5. Lag happens, we all get that, but dont use it as an excuse all the time, unless you are like me and have economy service internet, then you can blame it all on the lag because you are too cheap/poor to afford faster speed internet.
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<br/>6. When watching someone cast, dont get pissed off if they dont acknowledge everything you say, especially when there are a lot of people in said room. Paying attention to chat and gaming is a very challenging task. (I honestly dont know how some of you guys do it as Ive mentioned numerous times before, probably more than I care to recall.)
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<br/>7. Dont get pissed if someone you enjoy watching casts a game you dont like, just watch someone else, or do something else, read a book. Do people still do that?
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<br/>8. Dont hate on female gamers/ harass them. They are people too, and just because they were born with different parts makes them no different than us, unless they are being complete tools, then feel free to treat them as you would any other troll.
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<br/>9. Remember that name calling while it seems fun, can sometimes offend people, and unless they are being an utter prick to you or rage quit, its not cool, the other acceptable exception is if your friends and they spill beer all over your PS3 controller, then that a-hole deserves it. (This really happened to me and my poor controller. That particular friend hasnt been invited over since.)
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<br/>10. Dont take gaming so seriously, unless you are getting paid for it, its meant to be fun, not all of us can train 24/7 in our Moms basement living off of nothing but Cheetos and Mountain Dew. Its okay to get upset when you get screwed by a bad call in Madden or by a teammate being a tool and giving away your sniping position in Halo, but dont let it ruin your day. Take it easy and remember theyll always be a next time.
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<br/>Feel free to add in anything you think I missed or anything you disagree with, I enjoy reading the comments!Community Blogs:226054A winner is you! - JradroxJradrox2012-04-18T01:02:28Z2012-04-18T01:02:28Z<img src="http://bulk2.destructoid.com/ul/user/1/116466-226054-awinnerisyou1gif-620x.jpg"/>
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<br/>For those of you who don't get the reference to the title of this blog, you obviously didn't grow up in the 80's, you've never played Pro Wrestling on the NES, or you were just never fortunate enough to live through the awesomeness that was this game. The reason I am writing about said title is because it's the first video game I actually remember beating, (That and Donkey Kong...which I'll discuss in a bit). The reason I bring this up is I recently finished "The Binding of Isaac" on PC. This game was literally the bane of my existence for the couple weeks it took me to finish, I don't consider myself to be one to give up easily if I can't finish something, but there were a few nights I nearly did. One night in particular was the first night I encountered "Mom." I had Guppy (9 lives), the x-ray specs, maxed out the coinage, whole bottom row of soul hearts, but only had 3 regular hearts, then I made the stupid mistake of picking up Brimstone... (Brimstone is a charged shot, you hold the button down and it shoots, point being, holding the button down, it's not an automatic shot unless you have chocolate milk but I'll spare you the details...) I finally after playing for what seemed like days, get to her, I'm gonna do it, I'm finally going to end this pain I've been in of getting so close and dying, this was going to be...my run. Well, about 2 minutes later I got annihilated, I somehow managed to suck badly enough I lost all my 9 lives, all my awesome power ups were being left to my dead cat Guppy, who did nothing to help me, I was killed by a high heel surrounded by cankles. This of course had to happen at 4AM, my primal scream not only scared my poor cats who were sitting in my office watching me play, but woke up my girlfriend who was none too happy I'd stayed up till 4AM to begin with. A few nights later, I went back at it, I told myself one more run, I can do this, and I did. That final shot hit her, I got the cutscene, then the credits.
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<br/> I had accomplished what I set out to do, and can add it to my list of games I've finished (although I'm still working on finishing the game with the other characters).
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<br/> It reminded me of being a kid when I got the the last level of the NES version of Donkey Kong ( the blue construction zone area before you start over at the beginning) and got the last golden peg, Donkey Kong fell to his demise, I ran out of the room into the kitchen to tell my Mom what happened, I told her of my epic battle with this digitized monkey, how I overcame fireballs, and timed my jumps correctly, how I managed to get the umbrella and tea kettle for extra points, how I saved the princess. I remember my mom looking down at me, telling me good job giving me a hug and telling me she was proud of me. I saw my Mom recently and told her about my finishing The Binding of Isaac, how I stayed up countless nights, had nightmares of Isaac's mom screaming his name, how that game trolled me to no end, but I set a goal and finished it. She was actually confused as to why I would stay up so late when I had to work the following morning and asked me where I wanted to go for lunch. Not quite as enthusiastic for adult me, but for those few minutes, I was 6 year old me again. I was that little kid who went on adventures in the backyard pretending to be Pitfall Harry, who beat Donkey Kong and saved the princess, the guy who with the help of Star Man defeated Giant Panther for the belt, most importantly, I was happy.
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<br/>Any of my readers, do you guys have a story of a game you beat? I'd love to read them in the comments! <p class="post-photos">
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Community Blogs:225775My Origin Story - JradroxJradrox2012-04-12T23:47:28Z2012-04-12T23:47:28Z<span style="font-size:18px;"><strong> The origin of my name and my beginnings in gaming</strong></span>
<br/>So after lurking the Destructoid page for a while I've finally decided it'd be a good time to introduce myself. My name, is Jeffery, or as most of you know me, JRadRox (my nickname from my softball team was J-Rad, I threw on Rox because at the time I was watching TNA Impact and Roxxi was wrestling, I thought the Roxxi sounded cool but changed it to Rox because I'm a guy and didn't want some chick name....true story). You may have seen me once or twice casting with King Foom on Mash Tactics. ( I think I've been over there for about 3 different shows now?) I've been a gamer pretty much 28 out of the 30 years of my life. My obsession with the gaming world began in the early 80's, my parents had an Atari 2600, and from as far back as I can remember, that thing was my main obsession in life, I didn't know how to play half the games we had, I don't even know if you could technically beat 90% of them, but it didn't matter. The flashing lights, the monotone beeps, I was hooked. I'd like to think that they've I've learned a lot from playing video games, "Number Munchers" taught me math, Carmen SanDiego taught me geography, and Oregon Trail taught me how to conserve ammo, which I later applied to money in real life, no bullets in the game meant I couldn't hunt for food, in real life, no money means I can't buy food. (I attribute that game to my owning a house, even told our realtor that, I'm forever going to known as the Oregon Trail guy to him).
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<br/>Fast foward to today, I've gone from pixel based games to about as real life as you can get, I lived through the 8bit golden age, the 16bit wars, the jump to 64 bits, up to today's standard of high definition gaming.
<br/>While I may not be as up to date on new releases, (I've still yet to play any of the Mass Effect series, but maybe that's a good thing?) I try to make the best out of all of them, even the ones that obviously suck. (I drudged through TNA Impact on the wii out of spite for how bad it was.)
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<br/><span style="font-size:18px;"><strong> So how did I end up here? </strong></span>
<br/>My journey over to Destructoid ironically enough happened when I met King Foom, you know, the guy who hosts Mash Tactics, seriously, if you don't know, go look him up, he's one of the nicest people I've met. Foom and I actually met a few years prior, his wife and my soon to be wife are best friends, and one day Pickles (Foom's wife) had mentioned to me that her husband hosted his own online gaming show. I was intruiged, I watched, I became hooked. It wouldn't be until about a year later Foom and I actually met up in person, our first time meeting was pretty short, he was preparing for one of the WWE tournaments that he's now more or less famous for ( I wanna say it was the 4th one?). Needless to say, I became a follower, and when he found out he was coming over to D-Toid, I checked it out. (I had seen a few episodes of Mash Tactics prior to Foom coming over, but because it was usually on when I was at work, I missed out on a lot of them.) From watching Foom, I soon became friends with other broadcasters on twitch and D-Toid, meeting tons of cool people. I even tried broadcasting myself once. (Failed miserably, 0 viewers, I think I only played for like 45 minutes because I got bored.) Now that I got this intro out of the way, I'll hopefully write something that makes an impact on you, the reader, or at least if anything else, get to know more of you guys by sharing a little bit of me. But most of all, this is me trying not to suck. ^_^